In honour of Richard Grills

The Optical Distributors and Manufacturers Association (ODMA) Board hereby announces initiatives have been implemented to honour prior Board Chair and Director, Richard Grills, who sadly passed away in 2022, and who is deeply missed by so many in the optical industry.

Annual prizes have been set up with two Universities that Richard worked closely with. ODMA felt it was a very fitting way to honour Richard into the future by rewarding graduate achievements in low vision and orthoptics, which Richard was passionate about.

The University of Technology Sydney has, in recent weeks, presented their orthoptics scholarships and prizes, and the first-ever “ODMA Richard Grills Memorial Prize”, was awarded to Melinda Mo, who is based in Queensland. UTS said they were proud to announce this inaugural Prize to celebrate and acknowledge the signification contribution of Richard Grills to the profession of orthoptics and the education of UTS students.

Photo of scholarship, prize winners, and sponsors from the UTS event 31st May 2023.

A prize has also been established at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of NSW (UNSW) and will first be awarded in 2024 for achievement in the 2023 academic year. This will be known as “The Richard Grills ODMA Prize in Low Vision”.

This week has also seen another huge recognition bestowed on Richard. Whilst this is bitter sweet given Richard is not here to enjoy the congratulations he deserves, Richard was announced as a recipient of the Member of the Order (AM) in the Kings Birthday Honour List for significant service to community eye health and to the ophthalmic optics industry. Amanda Trotman, ODMA CEO said “All of us would have loved for Richard to have enjoyed hearing this news himself as it did sadly take some time for the process for this honour to come to fruition since his nomination. ODMA is so proud of Richard for this achievement as he truly was an honourable individual. Amanda went on to say “This morning I attended the Macular Disease Foundation Australia Research and Grants 2023 event. There we were at Admiralty House with the Governor General in attendance and an Excellence in Research Award was dedicated in honour of Richard Grills (AM). We heard of Richard's wisdom, expertise and passion in front of many close colleagues and family in attendance. Richard touched and improved the lives of so many people and it has been heartwarming to see the amount of industry acknowledgement for both Richard’s expertise and the wonderful human being he was. We again wish to express ODMA’s thanks for all Richard did for our Association specifically and the broader optical industry”.

Photos from the 16th June MDF event at Admiralty House, New South Wales, where Richard Grills was honoured.